Strange Days

by

The Doors

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"Strange Days" was The Doors' sophomore effort, the attempt at bringing back for another round the kind of feverish, poetic magic attained in their classic debut. Few follow-ups have achieved the kind of artistic, sonic accomplishments The Doors got here which is why many consider "Strange Days" their best effort, second only to their first album. Now in light of the 40th anniversary of the band's introduction to the world, Doors engineer Bruce Botnick has taken all their albums and remixed them from the original master tapes, what he achieves here, as with the remastered debut, is a complete resurrection of a classic recording. The album now breathes and screams with fierce energy and detail. The opening title track is now a true gothic opus as the effect of the first synthesizers is better appreciated in Jim Morrison's menacing delivery of a world gone insane. John Densmore's drums are heavy and intense while Ray Manzarek's organ is more defined. "Love Me Two Times" is a ferocious blues rocker with a killer bass now more audible while the creepiness of "Horse Latitudes," a spoken-word piece Morrison wrote in high school, is more striking this time as many of the layered effects are clearer. "Moonlight Drive" has better piano/organ parts. Some purists have been scoffing at the remixing, claiming these are not the same albums. This is a wrong analysis, what Botnick has done is create a more clear, defined piece considering the older recordings suffered from the original technological setbacks of the 60s and in the case of the first album even the speed was off. Solos and instrumentals are easier to hear now and the sound quality is superior to anything previously released. This is the same debate that was sparked in 2002 when "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits" was released and was also bashed for taking the original masters and remixing them. These are the same songs, same vocals, same instrumentals, simply put back together to sound as they were originally intended to sound. "My Eyes Have Seen You For Example" has a sharper bass and piano section. Morrison's voice never plowed under, it is even more ferocious in this mix. The great epic "When The Music's Over" is a glorious powerhouse of musical expression and poetics mixed with rock. Morrison's frantic screams are brought up and Robby Krieger's masterful solo is also more detailed here. The song is a timeless work that is fitting for our current, uncertain times. In it Morrison speaks for a world caught in a war and a youth culture waiting to explode. If only he had known that in the Bush/Iraq era, his words would still be perfect for the times. "Strange Days" itself was originally released in 1968, right when Vietnam was starting to heat-up and more and more young Americans were returning in bodybags as others took to the streets. And yet what sets The Doors apart from other bands of the era is that their music is fitting for all times, all moods, because darkness is an ever present reality. Morrison was ahead of his time, this is more clear now than ever. His black leather-clad image of a wild, poetic frontman has been emulated countless times over, even his stage attitude was a precedent for Iggy Pop and Punk, listen to "Horse Latitudes" and you can see where Patti Smith was spawned. "Strange Days" is one of those great rock n' roll albums that will live on as long as there is music in the world, Jim Morrison will remain an icon for generations of rebels and the sound the Doors produced is set in stone. Now remixed and remastered, this album lives again, more potent, more dangerous than ever.

Strange why you would mess with a classic.

This is NOT the original recording. It has been remixed. Bad idea. I don't understand why the Doors albums were remastered in 1999, but only released in the US in that box set. The '99 remasters sounded great. But remixed?? I think even the average listener would be able to tell that something just doesn't sound right here. It isn't the same classic recordings you're used to hearing.

Now, why am I against the remixes? Well, for one, it opens the door to reinterpretation. I mean, why not get a whole host of remixers for the project? You could have today's top DJs remixing classic albums from every era. You could buy the Scissors Sisters version of People Are Strange for when you want that combination of Jim Morrison and super sexy deep club beats. Why not just put the raw tracks on DVD audio and let the listener "remix" for themselves? Maybe you could get some guest musicians to add tracks to the original recordings. I mean, maybe what LA Woman really needs is a Slash guitar solo. Or how about getting Linkin Park to add some crunchy heaviness and rapping to When The Music's Over?

Do you get the point? If you start rearranging the past, where do you stop? And now these remixed CDs are taking the place of the original catalog, so new listeners will be hearing something totally different than what we originally heard and fell in love with. Classics are classics for a reason. Remastering for higher fidelity is one thing, but remixing, rearranging, and reinterpreting are quite another.